Suspected Moscow metro attacks mastermind killed

Russian security forces have killed a top militant suspected of organising the deadly attacks on the Moscow metro and who was reportedly married to one of the female suicide bombers.

Magomedali Vagabov was killed in a clash with security forces in the Caucasus region of Dagestan that left four other militants dead, the national anti-terror committee said in a statement published by Russian news agencies.

The double bombings carried out by two female suicide bombers on the Moscow metro on March 29 killed 40 and wounded more than 100.

"Vagabov was the organiser of the suicide bombings on the Moscow metro, was actively involved in recruiting youth for the underground and organised the training for the suicide bombers," the committee said.

He was described in the official statement as the number-two figure in the Islamist-inspired insurgency that has plagued the Russian Northern Caucasus over the last years, after its overall leader Doku Umarov.

The clash, described as being brief, took place in the village of Gunib - in the mountains of Dagestan south-west of local capital Makhachkala, where the militants were holed up in a house.

"Once the fire from the building was put out, one of the corpses was identified as Magomedali Vagabov," the statement said.

According to some reports, Vagabov was the husband of Mariam Sharipova, one of the metro suicide bombers.

This has been strongly denied by her father in media interviews but the Russian news agency reports described her as Vagabov's "sharia wife", implying he had made her one of a number of spouses.

Sharipova blew herself up at Moscow's Lubyanka metro station in the early-morning rush hour followed by her accomplice, Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova, who detonated her charge shortly afterwards at the Park Kulturi station.

As well as the Moscow metro attacks, Vagabov had also planned a string of attacks against security forces and on railway infrastructure, the statement said.

It said he had received training at a militant camp in Pakistan and had contacts with a number of international terror groups who had also passed on financing.

"The annihilation of the well-known bandit and his henchmen is a success for the security forces and shows even the most sophisticated means will not allow bandits to escape responsibility for their deeds," it said.

There were no casualties among the security forces or the civilian population in the village.

The Russian security forces had targeted Vagabov in previous special operations but had until now failed to track him down.

Russian media reported at the time of the attacks he led a 40-strong group in the forested mountains.

Not all however were convinced by the proud statements by the authorities over the killing.

"It's not like we've captured Osama bin Laden, we've liquidated some bandit who was not only unknown to the man in the street but also to MPs who do not specialise in the underground," said Gennady Gudkov, deputy head of the lower house of parliament's security committee.

"Despite the successes of the special services, the sources who form the underground have not been exhausted."

The Kremlin fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya in the 1990s but the insurgency has now become more Islamist in tone and has spread to neighbouring Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Umarov, who heads the Caucasus Emirate group seeking to establish Islamic rule across the Caucasus mountains, has for years evaded capture or killing by the Russian security forces.

This month he unexpectedly announced he was stepping down in favour of a younger successor but then days later withdrew the announcement and vowed to carry on killing "enemies of Allah".